


Everyone has wings, some of us just don't know how to fly

by Hawkseyebrow



Category: Pacific Rim (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M, Siren Newt, Vampire Hermann
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-02
Updated: 2018-10-02
Packaged: 2019-07-24 00:20:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,572
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16169744
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hawkseyebrow/pseuds/Hawkseyebrow
Summary: A tale of a vampire who's so used to being lonely that he can't even imagine living with another creature. A tale of a siren that's more curious than thoughtful. A tale of how two entirely different characters can exist together in a world that's alien for them both.Set in feriowind's AU.





	Everyone has wings, some of us just don't know how to fly

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [First Meeting](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15941384) by [feriowind](https://archiveofourown.org/users/feriowind/pseuds/feriowind). 



> Hey, so the first 1000-ich words may be quite familiar to you. It's basically feriowind's comic with some commentary added here and there. I just haven't really written a fic in years and needed something to get me going. I do have some ideas of my own and will be exploring more of them in upcoming chapters. I can't really tell how long this fic will be or what my posting schedule will look like, but I'll try to update it at least once a week.  
> Should you have any questions, feel free to send them my way in the comments section or over here -> https://hawkseyebrow.tumblr.com/

The relative silence of an ocean at night was abruptly disturbed by a loud, sudden splash that carried over water, reaching the creature’s ears. Inhabitant of an old, gloomy castle rose from his favorite resting spot, annoyed by this unwanted disruption. He found those few precious minutes that separated dusk from a proper night remarkably beautiful and calm. To unsettle such a charming moment was just unthinkable. Were it the first or even the second time, he would have probably let it slide, but it’s been happening quite frequently lately and today he’s had enough. 

With an annoyed huff, the creature effortlessly rose into the air, almost unconsciously taking the form closely resembling a bat. He gracefully soared towards the source of the commotion, which turned out to be a rather harmless-looking vermin that’s been venturing deeper and deeper into what he considered his territory. Although it felt primitive, some part of him just couldn’t resist the temptation of being a little bit possessive about what he believed was his property. He usually simply told himself to stop being silly and ignored most passersby. Not like there were that many of them. But this particular… thing just wouldn’t leave him alone.

Looking down into the water, he gazed right into a pair of huge, terrified eyes that apparently belonged to a person. Said person jerked backwards upon seeing an enormous, dark shadow above. An instinctive reaction every living thing has when in close proximity to an elder vampire is running as far away as physically possible. And yet after the initial shock his prey stilled, staring right at him.

The only creatures on this Earth that were stupid enough to willingly face him were hunters. Noticing the vermin starting to retreat back, he reached into the water, grabbing trespasser around the waist and unceremoniously lifting them out of water with a giant hand made solely out of dark matter that made up his body. It was constantly changing and appeared to ripple and shimmer on the wind, much like water does.

“Did you think you could outrun me, little stalker?” asked the vampire calmly, trying to determine how big of a threat he faced. Limp, seemingly lifeless body that lay in his palm certainly didn’t look like much. He shook it a little bit and noticed with amusement that various trinkets decorating it jingled with the movement. In reaction, the person started struggling, probably concluding that playing dead wasn’t getting them anywhere.

He felt sharp claws digging into his thumb, but the sensation wasn’t really painful as much as simply… there. He was aware of it, just as he was aware of a long, slick tail wrapping around his wrist. “...are of the merfolk?” He asked, tilting his head in surprise. Hundreds of years have passed since he saw one.

He hadn’t really expected any answer and he didn’t get one. Instead, he was met with a determined, fiery gaze of a prey that thought it still had a chance of beating it’s predator. And mere seconds later he was hit by something he has so far only read about. A siren’s song.

The sound seemed almost physical, ruffling vampire’s hair and enfolding him like a blanket, draining all other noises. With a pang of fascination he realized that he couldn’t hear the ocean. A regular humming of the waves splashing against his island has been a constant background to his life for a very long time and now it was not only obscured but somehow just gone. His head immediately filled with theories about acoustic waves and he briefly started to wonder how much control do sirens have over the sound they produce.

Fascinating or not, this particular siren has been disturbing him and, regrettably, now was not the time for theorizing. “Your song doesn’t work against me, siren.” he informed calmly, trying to maintain an uncaring expression. The sound was cut off as suddenly as it started.

The siren was speaking even before the last notes died down. “Wha- What are you?!” he asked, looking more puzzled than terrified now. The vampire decided that he’ll have none of that. He was the one who was supposed to be asking questions here, not this fish-related vermin.

“What I’d like to know is why you’ve been stalking me.” it was more of a statement than a question, but it did it’s job of ignoring the siren’s curiosity and cutting straight to the point. “I- I wasn’t stalking you!” came the answer. He sounded surprised by the accusation, maybe even a little bit affronted.

The vampire furrowed his brows in disgust. He didn’t take dishonesty lightly, especially from someone so insistent on being a nuisance. “Do you take me for a fool?” he asked sharply. “I’ve felt your presence for weeks. At first I thought you were merely some lost wayward soul and left you be. And you did leave…” admitted the vampire, wanting to be fair in his story. “...but then you came back.” he finished, remembering all the little, annoying noises the siren produced. It was as if he consisted mostly of sound, not matter.

“And you kept coming and going and getting closer to my home.” the longer he spoke, the more irritated he became. “Did you think I wouldn’t notice?” he finally asked, feeling his form shifting relentlessly in reaction to his emotional state.

“I was just checking the area out!” siren’s voice, although apparently high-pitched by nature, went even higher with indignation. As if anyone would be ‘just checking the area out’ around his island. Everything that lived and had some resemblance of common sense avoided this place. The vampire felt a stab of regret at that. 

Something must have showed on his face, because he was ripped from his thoughts by a loud “I swear!” shouted by the siren, who quickly elaborated. “There’s a spooky castle inhabited by a mysterious shadow that feels like you’re gonna die the closer you get to it and no sign of wildlife several miles around. What was I gonna do, not investigate?!”

He sounded as if keeping away from the danger was unthinkable. It was the vampire’s turn to be shocked into silence. He simply couldn’t believe what he heard - that’s why the siren came so close? Who in their right mind would do such thing?! The aura of death and darkness that he cultivated around his island served a very specific purpose.

“Did you not stop to think that there might have been a reason you felt like you shouldn’t come closer to that castle?!” he couldn’t help but raise his voice, bringing the siren closer to him.

“Like that was gonna stop me!” replied the vermin with bravado. “All great discoveries come with risk!” he added quickly, crossing his arms like a stubborn child. “Fortune favors the brave!” with that conclusion, the siren looked him straight in the eye. It only reinforced vampire’s previous impression.

After a moment of stunned silence he finally managed to shout back. “Brave?!” he spat the word out as if it had left a foul taste in his mouth. “You’d better re-examine that bravery of yours before you go knocking on the doors of vampires you silly fool! you’re quite lucky I didn’t kill you immediately!” he knew that the last sentence was a lie - he wanted merely to scare the trespasser away. But the siren did not need to know that.

The siren’s defensive stance quickly changed to more relaxed one, like he suddenly forgot that he was face-to-face with a dangerous creature. “Vampire? Is that what you are?” the merman asked, looking at him with something akin to...wonder? That couldn’t be right, he was a monster. He was a fearsome beast, whose very nature was to suck the life out of others. 

“Yes” he replied reluctantly, looking down. He wasn’t really ashamed of what he was, but he wasn’t proud of it either. He felt the body in his palm react with a vigorous twitch. Focusing his attention back at the merman’s face, he could see a huge grin spreading on it.

“I’ve heard the word vampire before but never actually knew what they were! Are there a lot of you guys on land?” the siren asked with delight and continued before he had the slightest chance of answering “I’ve really only managed to learn about humans and some other species, before, but not-” he waved his hand in the air, pointing vaguely at the vampire “-all this!” he finished.

The vampire pinched the bridge of his nose to avoid saying something indecent. He was usually not one to insult other creatures, but this one seemed to have no common sense whatsoever. The siren only verified this belief by gently nibbling at the black hand with his claws. “And what is this? Magic? Or are you a shapeshifter?” he asked, finally running out of breath.

“...you’re awfully curious, aren’t you.” the vampire cut in before the other could start asking more questions. “I thought your kind preferred to keep to themselves.” he added, remembering what little did he manage to read about merfolk in general and sirens specifically. That was not much at all.

The siren immediately looked wary. “What’s wrong with being curious?” he asked fiercely and the vampire couldn’t help but wonder if he’d somehow unintentionally insulted the merman. “We’ve been ignoring the world for too long! That’s willful ignorance! It’s stupid and useless! There’s-” he paused the shouting that grew more and more heated the longer he spoke to, once again, wave his hands, this time indicating everything that surrounded him. “there’s so much of the world I haven’t seen!” his voice broke a little at the last sentence, but he regained his composure for his speech’s big finish which was shouted at full force with such passion, that it left the vampire shocked yet again “I’m not gonna stay hiding just because of what may or may not happen!”

There was something in this sentence that felt like a punch to the gut. Whether it was the meaning behind it, the fervor that accompanied it or the siren’s expression - it hit a bit too close to home for comfort. “I… see.” he replied after a moment, gently dropping the siren back into the water. 

The merman moved around and splashed for a moment. “You’re letting me go?” he asked as soon as he was back in a vertical position. The vampire smiled gently. “I thought you were a hunter, but I was mistaken. I’m not one to punish a scientific mind, siren. Your curiosity is to be admired.”

And he did admire it. This siren was everything that he was not - passionate, brave, adventurous. Willing to take great risks solely in pursuance of knowledge. What’s there not to admire? But he needed to make one thing clear.

“Though if you do bring any hunters here, don’t think I’ll be so kind again.” warned the vampire with a serious expression, growing slightly bigger for a touch of a dramatic effect that was totally lost on the siren, who only laughed gently. “Do I look like I know any to you?” he asked.

Going back to his normal self, the vampire couldn’t help but reciprocate a smile. “Hm…” he looked the siren up and down, pretending to actually consider his answer. “No, I suppose not.” he admitted. They looked at each other for a moment, before the silence was broken. “Well then, I suppose I shall bid you goodnight, siren.” said the vampire, starting to float back towards the castle. 

He didn’t get far before he was stopped by the siren’s voice “It’s Newt!” he shouted, making the vampire turn back with a puzzled expression. “My name is Newt, not siren!” he explained, giving the other a meaningful stare, like it was the most important information of this evening.

“Newt.” the vampire echoed, wondering if naming their offspring after other marine creatures was siren’s tradition or if it was just Newt who’s been so lucky. He wasn’t even sure if newts were considered marine creatures. Intriguing species, those sirens.

“Hmm, well, Newt, you may call me Hermann.” he answered politely. “I wish you luck in your explorations, though do try to be a bit more cautious. Fortune may favor the bold, but it’s no good if you’re dead.” even when saying that, the vampire could already tell that the siren will probably ignore anything that stands between him and his next discovery, oblivious of any advice he might have gotten in the past.

“Whatever you say, Hermann!” replied Newt with a huge smile. Yes, the siren definitely didn’t plan on avoiding trouble. With a shake of his head, the vampire turned back again, spreading his wings and gliding towards his home. 

“Goodnight, Newt!” he shouted when he was still close enough for the sound to carry without issues and was seen off by an even louder “Goodnight to you too!” that made his head vibrate with the force of it.

Landing back on his island he changed back to his normal form and sighed heavily. Instead of some much awaited, blessed silence, he was met with an awareness of the siren swimming right at him. Newt didn’t even try to be subtle about it, staying on the surface and humming. Humming! Like he was on a field trip to collect flowers, or maybe in this particular case kelp or some other nonsense. Not rapidly approaching a potentially life-threatening encounter with a vampire. 

Hermann decided to just stand on the shore and wait for the siren to get closer. It wasn’t long before he could speak to the merman without shouting. “Newt.” he said with warning radiating from his voice. The humming stopped. “Hello again!” came a cheerful answer.

“Have I not made myself clear? Go. Away.” he pointed towards where the siren came from, hoping that he would finally get the message across. Unfortunately, the merman simply came a little bit closer and propped a waterlogged notebook on a nearby rock. Although Hermann had no idea where it came from, he wasn’t about to admit that by asking. 

“So you don’t always look like you did back there, huh?” started Newt casually after a moment of stubborn silence. He produced a small pencil, detached from one of many trinkets decorating his chest and hips, and started chewing on it absently. 

Instead of answering, the vampire merely raised a brow and resisted the urge to cross his arms. Maybe if he didn’t feed the siren’s curiosity, he’d eventually get bored and leave? “You know, I’m pretty sure I’m more stubborn than you.” commented the merman, resting more comfortably on his little rock. 

Facing such persistency, the vampire did the only thing he could think of. He turned around and marched into his castle. He ignored the “Hey, c’mon man, not fair!” that followed him from the water and retreated back to his extensive library to look for anything he might have on sirens.

When searching his immaculately organized collection, Hermann glanced behind one of the heavy curtains that were covering small windows on the west wall. Upon seeing Newt writing something in that notebook of his, the vampire quickly withdrew from the window. The merman probably wouldn’t be able to see him, but one can never be too sure.

Going back to his studies, he immersed himself in books, quickly losing all sense of time. Although the information on merfolk in general were scarce, at least it existed. Meanwhile with sirens, classified as a sub-species of merfolk, it looked like they have been extinct for at least a century, maybe even longer. Closely to no information was left about them, except for an ambiguous mention of their song. So what was this one doing on his doorstep?

‘We’ve been ignoring the world’ Newt said during their earlier talk. Does this mean that there are more of them? A whole secret society, hidden from the outside world! Feeling the thrill of excitement, Hermann closed the book he was holding at the moment and left it on the nearest flat surface, determined to get some answers from the best possible source. He might as well take advantage of the fact that the merman wasn’t going anywhere. 

Descending down the stairs towards the small beach where he had last seen Newt, the vampire stilled abruptly. Why did he trust the other so easily? By jove, he didn’t know the first thing about sirens, but they were obviously predators. Was he under some sort of spell? He hadn’t really felt anything when Newt sang to him, but who knew what long-term effects could it trigger...

Much more cautiously now, he approached the place where he’d last seen the siren and, sure enough, there he was. Curled up on that blasted rock, basically hugging it, face smashed into that stupid notebook of his, he appeared to be… sleeping? Enveloping himself in The Darkness, just to be safe, Hermann slowly floated towards Newt.

Upon closer examination, the vampire could see patches of dry skin coming off of the siren’s shoulders and back. Alarmed, he reached out with a hand much similar to the one he used to grab Newt earlier this night, but stopped it just before it reached his shoulder. Wouldn’t it hurt him if Hermann touched obviously irritated part of his body? On the other hand it might be normal for them. But what if it’s not? What if he simply dies here from the lack of water, nevermind being half-submerged in the ocean?!

Filled with questions and doubts, the vampire just kind of hovered above the sleeping siren, unsure of what to do. After a moment he decided to gently lower Newt into the water and leave him be, but as he was just about to got a hold of the merman he pictured him drowning in the shallow water. It was ridiculous, sirens were marine species! And yet he couldn’t recall seeing Newt breathe underwater.

Even if that is the case and sirens don’t have any gills, a most likely scenario was one in which Newt would start choking instead of somehow instantly drowning like Hermann’s imagination wanted him to believe. It would be, however, an unnecessarily cruel way of waking someone up. 

“Newt?” he tried saying gently, still reluctant to touch him. The merman didn’t react. “Newt!” the only result of that more insistent and louder verbal prodding was a small jerk of siren’s tail. Oh dear, no wonder they went extinct. 

Bowing down to the inevitable, he nudged the siren’s hip, figuring that it’d be the safest place to touch him. That seemed to do the trick, because the merman rose his head with a quiet “Wha-?” and looked around. After a few seconds of confused disorientation, he finally spotted the dark shadow looming above him.  
With a startled shriek escaping him, Newt jerked back a little, before recognising Hermann. “Dude! You can’t just hang over somebody when they’re sleeping, man!” he shouted, waving his hands around for emphasis and wincing when it pulled on his tight skin.

“My apologies. I simply noticed that your skin seems to be drying?” forming the statement as a question, Hermann wanted to trick Newt into elaborating on that matter. And the siren complied after quickly submerging himself fully in the water and sticking only his head out afterwards.

“Yeah, we don’t do too well outside of water…” he groaned, reaching for the notebook he fell asleep on, wincing at the torn pages, fragments of which has stuck to his arms and face. He still had a piece of it on his cheek, which looked both silly and kind of adorable to tell the truth.

“Why do you use it?” asked Hermann, gesturing towards the notebook “Isn’t it quite inconvenient?” he added, lowering himself a bit for a better look. Newt gripped the thing protectively “And what else am I supposed to use? Algae?!” he scoffed, securing both the pencil and the notebook on his belt. “Even this big brain can’t remember everything” he added, pointing towards his temple. 

Hermann wanted to say something about ‘big brain’ of a creature that came snooping around a vampire’s castle, but got interrupted by said creature’s jaw-splitting yawn. “Your kind isn’t nocturnal, I take it?” he said instead with a bit of humour.

“Nope!” came the answer. It was amazingly cheerful and tired at the same time. The vampire could only smile gently at that. “You may rest here, just make sure that you don’t get stuck out of water again” he teased, floating back to the beach.

“Not funny, Hermann. Not funny at all.” mumbled the siren right before diving into the water. The vampire debated staying to see how Newt normally sleeps, but quickly dismissed this idea. It was just in bad taste. Instead, he went straight back to his research. He couldn’t really focus on them for the rest of the night - he wasn’t used to having another living being so close to himself. 

And when the sun started to rise, instead of retreating to his chambers, like he always did, he headed towards the deepest part of the dungeon. He kept a bed there for occasions like this one. If the siren can indeed change form and walk on land, Newt will never be able to find him in his most vulnerable state.


End file.
